Deontay Wilder vs Sergei Liakhovich

[Spicoli]

I don't buy into this type of career path is all. If Wilder has any chance of being a great HW, why can't he fight another young prospect and find out where he's at? A loss would be great experience for him as well, and if he couldn't handle it then he's not made of the right stuff anyways. It's not as if being undefeated is winning him high praise from anyone in the first place. Fight Jennings who just beat the crap out of Liakovich, now that would be a really good fight to see happen.

Agreed. He's whistling through the graveyard before he actually takes a live body, literally, and runs a huge risk growing stale in false confidence going into a big fight. Scott, Jennings, Price, Mitchell have all stepped in reasonably deep and Mitchell has even "rebounded" though in extremely ugly fashion. I put Scott and Jennings much higher than Wilder.

[Master]

This is a cracking fight for Wilder, finally stepping up against a former world class opponent.

[irons]

People forget Wilder was a late starter to boxing (21 if I remember right). I think they're planning to move him up shortly to better competition, with a title shot within 2 years if all goes well.

I like the guy, hopefully will add some excitement to a pretty boring division.

[armin]

who's next zombie holyfield? The pace he's being moved at is just laughable

[Silkeyjoe]

I'm ok with this fight. Briggs only stopped him in 12, Valuev couldn't do it so at least he should take Wilder some rounds and he did hold a version of the World Title. Best opponent thus far so he is stepping it, just at a snail pace.

He was 30 when Briggs stopped him he's now 37.

This is NOT a step up.

From Audley Harrison? I respectfully disagree.

Maybe, but a 37 year old coming off of 2 losses.

Play the game, Harrison was a step backwards.

At the end of the day he's yet to be in a fight that's fair in terms of ability, he's been massively the favorite in every fight and this is no exception.

Liakhovic was doing very well against Helenius. One judge had him ahead. Considering he broke his nose in the 2nd round this was not bad going. He is a good fighter and is a massive step up for Wilder. I think this is the perfect opponent considering Jennings has just beat him and will give a good comparison for the two. After this they should fight each other. Id say they are both going to try and get Mitchell tho

Your last statement is just stupid. The Klits havent been in a competitive fight in years, always heavily odds on, as is Mayweather and the majority of top fighters.

[El Kabong]

who's next zombie holyfield? The pace he's being moved at is just laughable

He's not got a very long history of being a boxer. He didn't have that many amateur fights and he was terribly raw starting out his pro career. Given the absolute FACT that Wladimir Klitschko is the king of the heavyweight division for as long as he wants to be I think Wilder will benefit from avoiding an unnecessary leap frog over good fighters to build and shape his style just to go on and get stomped out by Wladimir. Deontay needs to take things slowly...if he goes too fast he'll be Michael Grant 2.0.

Michael Grant by the way was 31-0-0 when he fought Lennox Lewis....just sayin

[Freedom]

Lyakhovich is completely shot.

He's won just 2 fights in the last 7 years, both against journeymen. The last was over three years ago.

18 months ago, he said he was retiring after his brutal beatings from Robert Helenius and Bryant Jennings.

Deontay ducks people closer to his own age like Chisora and Charr to fight old, shot opponents.

[jon09]

I'm okay with this. I would rather see him being seasoned the right way then thrown to the wolves like a Price or Chisora who only had 15 fights into their careers.

[Silkeyjoe]

Lyakhovich is completely shot.

He's won just 2 fights in the last 7 years, both against journeymen. The last was over three years ago.

18 months ago, he said he was retiring after his brutal beatings from Robert Helenius and Bryant Jennings.

Deontay ducks people closer to his own age like Chisora and Charr to fight old, shot opponents.

Another one who comments without having seen the fights.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Sergei blew my mind when he fought Brewster and have been a fan ever since..

This could be my heart talking but I don't believe he's totally shot.. If I remember correct, he did some decent bodywork on Helenius and with Wilder being so tall, he has a big target down there as well..

Wilder has the size, youthful energy, and a big right hand but he has so much to work on and if he doesn't come in well prepared, Sergei might show him a few things..

The way Lennox was schooling this guy is stuck in my head. WIlder is a typical modern day HW.. He has the physical attributes but he's far from a natural fighter.

War Sergei!!!

[FinitoElDinamita]

The White Wolf has been training with Mike McCallum and he says he's putting everything on the line..

Im on the fence with this fight.

[Onetime]

Wilder started boxing at 18 and won a bronze medal less than 5 years later, this is a sport where dads and uncles take kids to the gym at 5 so he's been around boxing less than say Broner. I saw a video where Lennox is showing Deontay how to throw a jab, he's a work in progress. Who had Lucas fought at 27? Heavyweights also peak later, let's say Wilder fights this level for another 2 years he'll be 29 that's 12 years younger than Vitali is now, it's not like he is being shoved down our throats he's on ShoBox.

[Freedom]

Sergey is a shot fighter. He retired after the beatings from Helenius and Jennings.

Although the 2006 version of Sergey would be competitive with Wilder, the current shot inactive Lyakhovich has no chance of winning.

[FinitoElDinamita]

Sergey is a shot fighter. He retired after the beatings from Helenius and Jennings.

Although the 2006 version of Sergey would be competitive with Wilder, the current shot inactive Lyakhovich has no chance of winning.

Liakhovich has never been an active fighter even in his younger days. He fought Guinn in 04 and took over a year layoff before facing Brewster although he was younger at the time.

He also fought Helenius after a year layoff and from what i remember, he gave a good account of himself for the first 8 rounds or so. Infact I think he won most of those early rounds, correct me if im wrong.

06 version of Sergei would beat Wilder imo.

[Britkid]

Everything about Wilder screams fraud. It seems his management have little confidence in him. He reminds me of LaMar Clark:

LaMar Clark - Boxer

Liakhovich if motivated wins.